ephor means one of the five annually-elected senior magistrates in various Dorian states, especially in ancient Sparta, where they oversaw the actions of Spartan kings. It carries an Arena rating of 1534, earned across 94 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, ephor ranks #752 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #1,514 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #2,108 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #4,429 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words.
ephor is pronounced /ˈɛfə/.
Why “ephor” is a great word
EPHOR — [Noun] One of five annually elected senior magistrates in ancient Sparta who held supreme executive authority and oversaw the actions of the kings. From Ancient Greek ἔφορος (éphoros, "overseer"), from ἐπί (epí, "over") + ὁράω (horáō, "look, see"). Unlike an Athenian "archon," a chief magistrate who governed a polis but lacked direct power over its rulers, or a Roman "censor," who guarded public morals through census and scrutiny, the ephor was the embodiment of Sparta's austere distrust of concentrated power. It is the scrape of five chairs on the stone floor of the agora, the cold authority in a voice that could summon a king for midnight accounting, and the silent, watchful presence that made every royal ambition weigh its cost—a profound political truth that the most formidable restraint on a leader is not a law, but another person watching.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἔφορος (éphoros, “overseer”), from Homeric ἐπίουρος (epíouros), from ἐπί (epí, “over”) + ὁράω (horáō, “look”).
noun
- One of the five annually-elected senior magistrates in various Dorian states, especially in ancient Sparta, where they oversaw the actions of Spartan kings.e.g.“Agesilaus was fined by the Ephories, because he had drawne the hearts and good wills of al his fellow-citizens unto himselfe alone.” — 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 32, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
- A superintendent or curator.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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